


Delirious

by Lara



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, Darcy Lewis-centric, Darcy is the fandom bicycle and I love it, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Protective Avengers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Clint Barton, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 07:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5083483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lara/pseuds/Lara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt:<br/>Darcy still isn't getting paid, even though Jane has moved into Avengers tower and is being funded, meaning she has to work one or two jobs on top of looking after Jane. Jane thinks she is getting paid and Darcy doesn't want to tell her otherwise, so she keeps it hidden from her and the avengers, and Darcy slowly gets more tired and run down until she collapses one day and ends up at the hospital something, and everyone's worrying and finds out about the extra jobs.</p><p>___<br/>"I can see all," Darcy tried lifting her hand but it felt like her arm had been cut off below her elbow. "Jane call Thor and ask him if Heimdall gave me his powers because I'm so charming, also ask about the sword. I want that sword."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delirious

**Author's Note:**

> This work has been beta-ed by the best potato there is; Hannah (forevergingeratheart on tumblr) and Danni (daughter-of-ophelia on tumblr). Thank you Danni for the encouragement and thanks Hannah for your suggestions and also for looking out for my spelling and my punctuation. Because of you I'll never eat mash again.

Feeling tired made Darcy squeamish. Or, at least that was what she was telling herself when she was done screaming her heart out at the spider crawling at her feet.  
As the beast made its way across the linoleum floor and towards her, Darcy’s hand slipped and the last drops of her cold coffee spilled down the front of her only white blouse. In a moment of ingenuity she dove forward and used her still dripping mug to trap it. She half expected the mug to start moving.

So she was fixed to her spot staring at the mug. Maybe she should just relinquish the kitchen to the beast? You know, losing the battle didn't mean losing the war, or something. Steve would know. But then, if she rented out the kitchen to the spider she would also lose coffee and considering her four hours of sleep and the sleepless night that was awaiting her, she was not inclined to clear the field. Also the spider clearly didn't have a job (unless it got paid for humiliating her) and therefore couldn't even pay rent. It had to go. Immediately. 

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Lewis?"

"Can I request assistance for an urgent matter? Well, not urgent but sort of it's a coffee related emergency."

"I requested assistance when you showed signs of distress, Miss Lewis."

"Oh, nice, great, thanks J-man!"

"May I suggest sitting down? Your heart rate has picked up."

"NO!,” She protested vehemently. “I mean- no, it's just the...caffeine." Sitting down now would probably put her to sleep immediately and she couldn't afford that. Quite literally when she was done transcribing she would have to haul ass to Al's Grocery.

The Brooklyn bodega was run by an 85 year old down her block in Sunset Park. Her boss’ vision and mind were sharp as a whip but his body was suffering and he had her help him out with the restocking of the shelves. No sleep today. Or sitting, if she wanted to stay awake.

"Sergeant Barnes is on his way."

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. Bucky would take care of it. Hopefully he'd karate chop the beast to death with his metal arm. Or he'd go all Winter Soldier on it and use his skills to convince it to leave.  
Bucky took another thirty seconds before he strolled in, looking handsome as always. One day, when she wasn't delirious from her long nights and many a cup of coffee, she would try and woo the man. Now, the spider was of importance and also coffee.

"I have a spider the size of the spider from the end of 'It' under that cup." Bucky raised his eyebrows, he looked worried for her sanity.

"I don't know-"

"The size of a house but this one unfortunately isn't plastic." She explained taking a step back and covered as Bucky moved forward to inspect her favorite NASA mug.

"Under the mug?" He asked, grabbing a piece of paper of the kitchen island.

"Under the mug." She confirmed. Bucky slipped the paper under the mug and stood up with the spider in hand. He stood in front of her for her a moment as she eyed the mug. She would never be able to use it again. Spider hairs had touched it. She would just have to throw it out. Or Jane wouldn't mind spider hairs, she wouldn't even have to know. After all it wasn't the cups fault it had served her well for the past coffee runs. It was a good mug. But decisions had to be made.

"I'm sad to see this mug go." She lamented and stepped out of Bucky's way. He contemplated her for a moment.

"You're serious?"

"Like a bullet wound." He smirked at her, she glared back, coffee withdrawal was a serious problem.

"Don't just stand there? Aren't you supposed to protect civilians from danger? What kind of Avenger are you?"

"Part-time Avenger." He corrected. The spider went out of window and only then Darcy felt like she could relax again. She yawned. Big mistake.

"COFFEE!" She bellowed and charged at the state of the art coffee-maker like it owed her money. As she busied herself with the settings- pressing the espresso shot option four times- Bucky hopped onto the counter behind her.

"Are you okay, doll?" The doll thing? That right there was reason she needed to  
seriously jump his bones. Well, when she wasn't gonna fall asleep mid-jump.

Was she okay, though?  
Maybe?

Probably?

Sleep deprived? Yes.

Over caffeinated? Almost certainly.

Otherwise? Just peachy.

"I'm a-okay, Buchanan."

“You seem... pale." His brow creased as he searched her face with his eyes. Even his little butt chin looked worried.

“Way to kick a girl when she hasn't had her seventh coffee yet."

"Are you sure?" Apart from the sleep deprivation headache she was developing she was a hundred percent sure, so she nodded her head. He hopped off the counter and squeezed her arm gently before retreating to do whatever retired Winter Soldiers did. Her arm felt funny as she watched him go. 

~*~

"Am I boring you?" Darcy raised her head slowly and blinked blearily at Jane. Her glasses had apparently fallen off or she had destroyed her vision with too much caffeine. Kinda like moonshine, maybe her throat would also tear and she would have to breathe through a straw.

"No, you're the most interesting being I know." She deadpanned, sounded slurred even to her own ears.

"Hey!" Tony protested, he was standing next to Jane, a smear of motor oil on his face.

"You got something on your face." She said squinting, Tony found the smear she pointed at and began rubbing; it didn't do much good.

"Are you okay, Darcy?" Jane asked concerned, she reached out and felt Darcy's forehead. "You don't have a fever. Stomach bug maybe? You should let Bruce check you out."

"I’m fine, I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Stayed up late on social media, Lewis? Did you tweet, book and tumble?" She only barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Tony. Her facebook had been suffering almost as much as her bed. As in, nothing happened ever, nobody wanted a picture of of another ass-crack at 2 in the morning and her bed didn’t see any action of any sort. 

Darcy wasn’t even sure if she could have sex at this point. Running for the train usually had her in stitches and close to an asthma attack within seconds. Her lung would shrivel up, like a grape left too long in the sun it would turn into a raisin. In conclusion; she wasn’t sure if she should put a guy in the position of her potentially coughing up a lung because he had tried to sex her.

“No, I just couldn’t sleep, is all.”

“Uhuh.” Tony sounded unconvinced and eyed her with concern.

“I’m fine,” She repeated.

“Well, alright, go get your beauty-sleep, Sparky.” Tony pointed to the clock above the door. Five it said. Crap. Darcy grabbed her jacket and without saying goodbye she disappeared down the hall. By the time she reached the elevator she needed smelling salts. She leaned against the wall to catch her breath. The elevator opened and Darcy almost toppled into the cube to Clint's feet. He reached out, in that suave way of his and almost managed to grab her. Darcy steadied herself. “Hello, Boo.”

“Are you okay, Darce?” Worry lines creased his eyes and the band aid on his nose came loose.

“Top of the morning to ya, Mr. Radley.”

“Darcy.” He warned, he reached out and cupped her face in his hands. 

“What's up with all the touching today?” She asked as he worked her cheeks into a fish face. He ignored her question and instead asked one of his own.  
“You're not sleeping enough, aren't you?”

She tried sticking her tongue out but her mouth wouldn't oblige. He let go after another minute staring into her eyes.

“And?” She asked rubbing her cheeks.

“And what?”

“And did you see the future?”

“Why would I see the future in your eyes?”

“Because-this is my floor!” She sidestepped Clint's grabby hands and ducked out into the lobby. For a spy-sassin his reflexes lacked a lot of reflexability.

“Holy diversion, Batman! We are not done talking, young lady!” Darcy showed him the middle-finger.

~*~

When she left Al's -owner’s name was actually Martin- the clock on her phone told her it was 1:30 in the morning. Well told was too nice, it was a cruel reminder that she'd have to get up at 5:45 to go work the morning buzz at the shady diner at the other end of the block.

But then she'd have to go work at the tower, or volunteer might be the best definition  
If you didn't get paid for work and it wasn't technically an internship anymore wasn't that volunteering? Darcy loved the work there but it didn't pay her rent or her food. 

Technically, Stark paid for most of her food, Darcy didn't think Tony really minded her occasional five finger discounts. Both jobs barely covered her expenses and New York practically ate money like it was a shredder. All she could hope was that Jane would value her work enough one day that she would get paid. Until then, less sleep and more coffee were the only options.

~*~

The morning shift was surprisingly mellow. Nothing extraordinary happened, Darcy didn't even see the usual rats by the dumpster this time. She hoped Mrs. Rizzo was fine. The key word being 'was', it was okay until one of her early bird customers demanded another, sharper knife for his steak and eggs (more like tires and slime). 

Darcy had the knife in hand, carefully holding it by the handle like her teachers in preschool had taught her, when she tripped over the shoelaces of her converse.Instead of letting the knife fall to the floor, Darcy, hazy as she was, reached out and caught the knife with her right hand. Of course it wasn't the handle she caught. 

In hindsight, her teachers should have taught her not to try and catch a knife with her hands. The education system in America really was going down the drain.The blade painfully slit the meat of her palm, blood started running before Darcy even registered what was happening. Subsequently all she got was a look, a towel for pressure and a pointed look to the door from her boss. 

This job really was her least favorite one.

~*~

When she passed the subway station, she decided to skip the trip to her apartment and instead head to the tower and ask Bruce for some peroxide. As she sat on the hard plastic seat, she watched as the other New Yorkers stayed clear of her. Looking down to her faintly prickling hand she saw why. The towel was almost completely red, colored by her blood. Instead of feeling nauseous like she usually would, she felt a weird sort of apathy, like her hand wasn't her own.

"I swear this is my own blood and I have not killed anybody. Also I have no diseases that are transmitted via blood. You can sit next to me." She sounded like one of those drunk guys who'd eventually ended up vomiting in the middle of Times Square. It was no surprise when no one moved. 

Fine, Darcy thought, more room for me. 

She settled back and closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that the MTA wouldn't be all too pissed if she kicked the bucket on the R train.  
When her train stopped at 42nd St, she could barely open her eyes. She was pretty sure that it wasn't because of blood loss. 

Maybe she had overworked herself? Pish-posh, she was used to even less sleep during finals week in college she had had a five hour energy drink every three hours and she'd been just fine. Darcy, still wobbly on her feet, began her track to Tony's monument for his penis. 

On the plus side; she wasn't catcalled. It was a first since she started working around Times Square, maybe she should cut her hand open more often?

The lobby was a little too bright for her taste. The headache she'd been having for weeks now, pressing into her forehead from the inside, began thumping painfully in perfect sync with her heartbeat. The noise overpowered anything, she wasn't sure she could still hear her own thoughts. 

She barely registered telling JARVIS that she needed to go down to the labs. She wasn't even sure she had. No less, when the elevator opened the doors revealed the labs. Holding onto the wall she made her way towards Bruce's lab where the med-kit was sure to be well stocked. 

She wasn't sure how but she managed to get to Bruce's lab. Bruce leaned over one of his experiments and surprisingly Bucky and Steve were sitting at the other side of the table, quietly talking to the doctor. She couldn't be sure though, for some reason she couldn't really hear anything anymore, other than a rushing sound in her ears. Bucky noticed her first and, before she could even form any words, he was already out of his seat.

“Darcy?” He mouthed.

"What happened?" Bruce asked, (she assumed at this point, the incessant thumping of pain hadn't lessened) he looked up from his work startled, blinking at her blood red towel, by now you couldn't really tell anymore that it was blood and not just it's naturally color.

"My reflexes tried to kill me." She managed one wobbly step into the room before it felt like she was stepping into empty space. Pain blossomed at the back of her head. Steve and Bucky were hovering over her with identical worried looks on their faces. Maybe they were like dog and owner, they had started to look alike.

"Which one of you is the dog and which one is the owner?" She asked trying to lift her head up. She couldn't. Bucky's hands came up and held her head in place. A bright light blinded her. Another pair of hands found her bloody hand. “I think you're the dog.” She slurred trying to point at Steve's face but her hand was still in someone's grip. His brows furrowed even more.

"I can see all," Darcy tried lifting her hand but it felt like her arm had been cut off below her elbow. "Jane call Thor and ask him if Heimdall gave me his powers because I'm so charming, also ask about the sword. I want that sword." 

“Stop talking,” Bucky said, his fingers carding through her hair. “It'll be alright.” He was whispering now, or was he? She couldn't tell. Her brain was hurting too much and she couldn't think anymore, so she closed her eyes.

~*~

"Blood loss and--" That was Bruce. He spoke from somewhere above her. It smelled like bleach and something vaguely metallic. Bruce's voice was soothing as he spoke about blood loss and fatigue. Darcy idly wondered who he was talking about and if she was even allowed to listen to him. Maybe this was how spies felt like when they gathered intel about others under false pretenses.

"Are you awake, Darcy?" Someone else asked and shattered all her dreams of hollow shoe soles and quartermasters.

"I'll never be Susan Cooper," She mumbled before finally opening her eyes completely. Above her the all of the Avengers, minus Natasha and Thor, were gathered and looked down at her as if she was a particularly interesting sample of a dead frog.

"What did I do?" She asked after no one made a move to explain why she was in a bed in the med-bay or why it smelled like blood.

"The better question is what have you been doing? And what haven't you been doing?" Tony asked, pointing at her with his finger like he was scolding her. But that couldn't be. It just didn't seem right for Tony Stark playboy, millionaire, and giant child to scold anyone. Her lightheadedness made it hard to focus on that though.

"What happened to your hand?" Jane asked from her right side, Darcy lifted her hand and found it to be perfectly fine.

"Right hand, doll." Bucky said from her other side, he was all frowny again. Her right hand was indeed bandaged. Oh. She had fainted and not even Marie Antoinette style.

"I caught a knife." She admitted, that had probably been her Susan Cooper moment. Darcy Lewis, a spy she was not. Also she wasn't a particularly good knife catcher. Though, she wasn't sure if that was a thing.

"Where? How?" Clint asked, he stood at the foot of her bed.

"I auditioned for the circus, what do you think?" Well, what is he supposed to think? A little voice nagged. He doesn't know about your other jobs.  
"Questions still stand; where? And how?" Clint pressed on.

"You guys are all very sweet, y'know worrying about me, it happened at work." Also, I'm tired and I want to sleep, this time she managed to keep her mouth shut, these people were her friends.

"No it didn't!" Jane protested. "You weren't even at work yet." For such a tiny person Jane sure looked like she was ready to enter the ring with her.

"My other work. The one that actually pays." Jane's eyes grew round like saucers.

"What do you mean that actually pays?"

"How many jobs do you have?" Steve asked, uncharacteristically quiet for someone who usually was at the forefront at any crisis. Bucky seemed to be handling it just fine from his spot next to her.

"Stark Industries pays you!" Tony exclaimed, frustrated. Darcy scowled at all of them.

"New York is expensive. SI doesn't pay me. I have three jobs." That shut them up good. Stark broke the silence first. Unsurprisingly. "You're a Stark Industries employer, you shouldn't have to slave away."

"I'm still an intern. I haven't been paid since we started here."

"Darcy.." Jane sounded upset. Darcy scowled, she didn't understand what the big deal was. “Why didn't you say anything?” Darcy looked down and shrugged, it really wasn't a big deal.

"JARVIS, pull up Darcy's records." Tony pulled his Starkphone from his pocket and began swiping. Everyone in the room looked so damn concerned. Steve hung back a bit, probably hurt by the comment she had made about him being the dog. Bucky stood uncharacteristically close to her. And Clint and Sam both looked like they were gonna have an ulcer soon. Darcy used the moment of quiet to make eye contact with Jane.

"I thought you were being paid. I'm so sorry. If I had known-" Jane was teary eyed over the whole thing.

"It's not your fault."

“It is! I thought that HR had done their job, I thought you were being paid. They said you were on the salary. When we were celebrating I told you, you’d even have dental-”

“Jane, I’m sure you did, it’s just we had about half a bottle tequila that night - the only thing I remember is the tequila.”

“Darcy, when was the last time you slept properly?”  
Darcy pouted for a moment. She had been nagging the scientist three for months to get more sleep and she herself hadn’t stuck to her own rules, putting her cards on the table now seemed like a bad idea. She was a terrible role model.

"I'm twenty three. I should be able to pull an allnighter without fainting." She crossed her arms, petulantly.

"One allnighter. Not seven." Bruce said gently.

"More like the last two months." She corrected sheepishly. Tony rubbed his beard like he was trying to rub it off. “Kid, I give you permission to sue me now for enslavement. You could make some big money and you’d never have to work again, I’ll even recommend a lawyer.”

“Wouldn’t I be suing Pepper?” There were only a few things she wanted to do less than sue Pepper Potts. She liked Pepper. She was even crushing a little on the tall redhead. She was not gonna ruin her chances with her in case Tony fucked it up.

“No, you’d be suing the HR department. I never liked that Robert guy who runs it.”

“I’m not gonna sue.”

“The least we can do is to put you on the salary now, give you full coverage and pay you what you’ve already earned.” They’d been in the tower for the better part of four months and she had worked six days a week for at least nine hours.

“I don’t think you can do that.” She mumbled.

“I can. We’ll tell HR that you are considering a lawsuit, they’ll be happy you only want dental and the money they owe you and not their New Jersey houses and metro cards. And if not I’ll pay you out of my own pocket.” He held up his finger when Darcy opened her mouth to protest. Someone touched her bandaged hand.

“Just accept it, doll.” Bucky slowly circled her wrist with his thumb, she relaxed immediately. She’d blame it on her sleep deprivation later.

”Do whatever, I’d quit my diner job right now if I could.”

“You can.” Sam said with conviction.

“But the job at the grocery--”

“We’ll talk about that tomorrow after you’ve head at least nine hours of sleep.” Sam clapped Clint on the back, nodding his head towards the door.

“Sleep.” Clint ordered before he followed Sam out of her room.

”Do as big bird says. JARVIS, no caffeine for Lewis until doc here says otherwise.”

“Don’t make me rethink suing you.” She glared with all the force she could muster, it rolled off Tony like water off a duck's back. Tony took off, phone already on his ear. 

“Take Jane with you!” Darcy yelled after him. 

“I don't want to go!” Jane protested immediately. 

“You need to go and do science, or sleep, or eat- whatever.” 

“Big words for someone who hasn't done any of those things in ages, really Darcy-” 

“Steve.” Darcy pleaded, looking at him behind Jane for reinforcements. He nodded, took Jane's arm and gently lead her out of the room.

“Sorry for saying you're a dog, Steve.” Darcy called after him.

“That’s what you were saying?” Bucky asked. 

“For what it’s worth, you seem to share the roles.”

“Go to sleep, Darcy.” He said but grinned goodnaturedly.

Well, at least she hadn’t verbally defaced a national icon on top of riding the subway bleeding today. Bucky stroked her hand for a moment longer. At her questioning look he sat down on one of the chairs by her bedside. 

“I'm staying to make sure you'll sleep.” 

It seemed fruitless to argue so instead she settled back and closed her eyes.  
“I would like for someone to induce the coma now.” She sighed, and could hear his soft laughter as blessed sleep came to her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Any mistakes you find belong to me.


End file.
